Liste der Bands Heavy Rock Ghost (SWE) Opus Eponymous

Have you ever believed in the existance of Satan or of demons? I have never and I do not know if it is the same for you, but these unknown guys from Sweden pray to the Lord of the underworld! They present themselves as priests who do not show their faces and their names, just like ghosts. The name of the band is Ghost, do not you think that this is strange?

I do not remember when was the last time that I heard such a demonic and perfect album which combines the heavy metal with the early clues of black metal. The fathers of heavy/black metal Mercyful Fate are in this album and every one can feel it by the first listening. There are also clues from N.W.O.B.H.M. which are not totally clear, but after some listenings you can see it and the band which gave them some ideas is Witcfynde. Ok and Demon too, but I think that their power is derived by their Lord!

All the songs of the album are great and easy-listening. The lyrics describe exactly how some people feel about Satan while they do not believe in God. Black bibles and books with crosses upside-down. Phrase like "Lucifer we are here for your pray" from the song "Con clavi con dio" make you think that Ghost belong to another decade, when and where darkness was the perfect company for some people. The riff of "Ritual" reminds again and again of the riff from "Night of the demon" from Demon, but the rest parts of the song change. If these songs had been writen in another decade many heavy/black metal bands of today would have based their songs on them. "Stand by him" and "Prime mover" are the most obvius songs which talk about Lucifer.

There are some who say that this kind of metal can not offer you pleasant moments of melody and that because of the lyrics. But I say that they do not listen clearly, because the main point is not just the lyrics, in which is not necessary to believe, but the whole attempt. Then they will see that melody is in the album and the final song and instrumental "Genesis" is only a melody and the right ending for an enjoyable album like Opus Eponymous.

The members know exactly what is required to record an album like this one. The guitars are the tween sisters and the one never leave the other alone, their solos speak to your brain. The bass is so ethystic that I can not remember the last album in which the bass is heard like this. The drums and the voice are together the top of a beautiful mountain and the organo has a sound that you think you are in a catholic church. The only not perfect clue is the production of the album, which I am certain that it could be better, but when you are listening to it you somehow forget that.

Well are we sure that this band recorded this album in 2010? After some listenigs have you started thinking of the existance of demons and ghosts? Find your answers on your own. One thing is certain, that this album is the begining of a great era for the band named Ghost!

Ghost is one of those bands that draws attention wherever they go. Their stage presence is unbelievable and their music is somewhat surprising. By surprising I mean that it's great and all, but not what I expected when I first heard of them. Someone at a record store had built these guys up as being one of the craziest bands he had ever seen. He told me they were "brutal." His words, no joke. So, I went home and checked them out and I admit I was disappointed that they weren't exactly "brutal," but they were still pretty damn good. They're a great throwback to old school heavy metal.

After the introductory track (I normally hate those, but this one wasn't all that bad, tolerable to say the least), the album really kicks off with an excellent bass line into the song "Con Clavi Con Dio", one of the best songs off the album. At first I was shocked by how mellow it was (after all, they were built up as being "crazy" and "brutal" to me), but I quickly got into it's style, and enjoyed the hell out of it. I think one of my bigger complaints about "Opus Eponymous" though is that it's just not heavy enough for me, but that's just a personal preference and isn't necessarily a bad thing for the band. In fact, I honestly don't think they would work as well if they made themselves heavier. They feel just fine the way they are. All of their songs are great, some are much, much better than others, I admit. But even the songs that don't quite live up to the better ones still have a fun beat to them along with deliciously Satanic lyrics.

That's another thing I really love about Ghost. It's their use of satanism in their lyrics. I absolutely love lyrics and reading them to my favorite bands and Ghost's are very fun to listen to, so they score extra points just for that alone. They paint a brilliant portrait in your mind, especially in the song "Elizabeth" which is about the "blood Countess" Bathory. They're complimented spectacularly by the music so much so that whenever I remember the very last song on the album, "Genesis," which is an awesome instrumental track, I always swear to myself that there are actual lyrics to the song. It just feels like there should be. That's how well they blend together. Overall this band's sound is pretty groovy. Yeah, I think "groovy" is the perfect word to use here since it's very '70s-style influenced (judging by the sound of it alone). It's pretty refreshing to hear a modern band using this style again and doing it so damn well. They can prove that your metal band doesn't have to be "crazy" or "brutal" to be excellent. You just have to kick ass and truly love what you're doing and these guys just ooze with passion, and you can tell just by listening.

Another note: the vocalist. All of his vocals are clean and catchy. The choruses to all of the songs are top notch. I love the way his voice meshes with the evil sounding guitars and keyboards (as I've mentioned before). The more I listen to this album as a whole the better it gets. And I think it works better as a whole than it does as individual songs. That's not a bad thing, but sometimes it can be frustrating. After all, I think this is pretty awesome. Especially for a band that I had known nothing about before and was completely mislead into listening to. It's not often that surprises like this come about and I'm glad it was Ghost. I'll be looking forward to their next release whenever that may be.

So why am I only giving this 17/20 and not anything higher if the only thing I complained about was (admittedly) a personal preference? Well, I've also come to realize that the replay value isn't as high as you would think it'd be. Every now and then I'd be in the mood to listen to them, but most of the time I'll forget their debut is even in my collection until I stumble upon it. But, whenever I do, I greatly enjoy what I hear and I tend to recommend them to people. They're definitely worth keeping around, but you may find yourself skipping over them from time to time whenever they appear on shuffle with your Ipod or MP3 player or whatever the hell you have. In conclusion, a fine, soft (by today's standards) metal album definitely worth checking out with catchy riffs, beats and choruses, fantastic lyrics, a brilliantly mysterious nature about the band members themselves, and an excellent sense of individuality. Thus I give "Opus Eponymous" by Ghost my final rating of 17/20. Check it out if you haven't already.